Coconut Shrimp with Spicy Orange Dipping Sauce

Fried shrimp coated in coconut flakes and panko crumbs straight from the fryer make me slightly weak in the knees. Biting through the crusty coating into the steaming-hot, succulent shrimp trapped underneath makes me deliriously happy.

The deceptively sweet orange marmalade sauce carries a surprise hint of heat that is a perfect counterbalance for all of the savory sweetness going on.

The sauce is made with just a few pantry ingredients: orange marmalade, dijon mustard, vinegar and red pepper flakes. If you don’t like the sound of the sauce a store-bought sweet chili or sweet and sour sauce goes just as well. You can use sweetened or unsweetened coconut, I prefer the sweet ones for this.

To make things easy I buy shrimp already cleaned with the tails on so you have something to hold onto for dipping. You want to use shrimp on the large side, if they’re too small you chance overcooking the shrimp before the coating crisps up. I butterflied these but you can skip that step as it makes no difference in the end result.

Set up a dredging station for the shrimp by placing the flour in a wide, shallow plate or bowl; beat the eggs in a small bowl and combine panko and coconut in a separate, wide, shallow plate or bowl. Coat shrimp with flour, dunk into egg mixture and then into coconut crumbs, patting the crumbs on if needed. Set on a large platter and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.